The present embodiments relate to nuclear or other medical imaging. Example nuclear imaging modalities include single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET). A radioactive substance is administered to a patient. An imaging detector detects the y-radiation emitted from the patient. The detected emissions are tomographically reconstructed to generate an image object of locations of the emissions in a patient. Due to motion during detection or poor calibration, the reconstructed image object may include artifacts. Different types of reconstruction may address these artifacts, but it may be difficult to recognize that the artifacts exist or may be corrected.
A well-known objective statistical measure for modeling Poisson-distributed radiation counts is the Poisson cumulative distribution function (Poisson CDF). Because the CDF is piecewise constant with discontinuities at integer points, a random component may be added to provide a modified Poisson CDF (MCDF). The MCDF is computed in data space (not image space) and provides a global histogram distribution that may be rendered for viewing. An experienced human observer may be able to recognize the effects of artifacts from the rendered MCDF histogram. Other radiologists may have difficulty recognizing the artifacts even in the rendered MCDF histogram. In some cases, the global histogram is not sensitive to local artifacts or image degradations.